Investing in Justice
How one family’s memorial scholarship fuels futures in housing advocacy
By Samus Haddad
When Anna Bachman passed away, her family faced the unimaginable. But from that grief came a vision to keep Anna’s passion for housing justice alive by creating opportunities for graduate students like her at UIC’s College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (CUPPA).
Anna's humanitarianism was evident from an early age, whether volunteering in her community or tutoring friends after school. Her undergraduate studies focused on developing nations and gravitated toward social justice. Her first professional role with Habitat for Humanity allowed her to help unhoused families secure affordable housing.
“While that hands-on work spoke to her heart,” her mother Marsha Kopral said, “Anna dreamed of a world where communities unite to ensure housing for all, regardless of income. She knew she needed to influence change on a larger scale to make that vision real.”
This realization brought Anna under the mentorship of the late Janet Smith, a CUPPA professor and housing justice activist. For more than 25 years, Smith shaped housing policy and planning through her teaching, research and community engagement, impacting Chicago and public housing initiatives nationwide. Smith’s leadership translated her students’ passions into promise, and Anna’s time under her wing set the course for a bright future.
But when Anna’s life was cut short by a tragic accident, her family — mother and stepfather Marsha and Andy Kopral, father Rick Bachman and sister Gail Bachman — refused to let her vision for the future disappear. They came together to channel her dream into a foundation for something extraordinary: the Anna Bachman Memorial Scholarship.
(left to right) Anna Bachman, her sister Gail Bachman and her mother Marsha Kopral
The family recognized that without support, the pipeline of people working toward equitable communities could narrow, leaving the work Anna cared about unfinished. Their scholarship planted seeds of transformation, which have now grown into careers dedicated to the future Anna envisioned. One such scholarship recipient is Edgar Lara
MUPP ’16, now a city planner with the Chicago Department of Planning & Development. Lara works on industrial corridor framework plans that tie into housing justice. By reducing pressures that might otherwise displace residents and weaken housing stability, he protects the surrounding communities.
For students like Lara, receiving this scholarship means more than tuition support. “It gave me freedom to focus on coursework and community engagement,” he said. “It felt like recognition that my goals were aligned with a larger mission and reminded me that there is a community of people who believe in this work."
Scholarship recipient Taylor Harrington MUPP ’16 was similarly inspired by Anna’s story. “I carry on Anna’s passion at the core of all I do. This scholarship helped me find my own confidence in the path I’d chosen.” As a senior planner at Michael Baker International, she advances housing justice by helping government agencies plan for climate change, hazard mitigation and water resource management.
“We know that the impacts of climate change disproportionately impact marginalized communities,” Harrington said. “I work to not only maintain access to affordable and safe housing, but also include elements of housing justice in every project as a cornerstone of future planning.”
Anna once dreamed of housing justice; that dream now moves through the 14 scholars supported by the scholarship that bears her name. For the family that loved her, knowing that others have taken up the work Anna loved brings a measure of light into their loss. “It is so wonderful to hear of students who have a similar passion to our daughter,” Marsha said. “We know Anna would be so happy knowing her efforts were not halted.” With every new scholar, Anna's vision moves farther into the world, carried by those committed to the work she began.
How one family’s memorial scholarship fuels futures in housing advocacy
Investing in Justice
(left to right) Anna Bachman, her sister Gail Bachman and her mother Marsha Kopral
The family recognized that without support, the pipeline of people working toward equitable communities could narrow, leaving the work Anna cared about unfinished. Their scholarship planted seeds of transformation, which have now grown into careers dedicated to the future Anna envisioned. One such scholarship recipient is Edgar Lara
MUPP ’16, now a city planner with the Chicago Department of Planning & Development. Lara works on industrial corridor framework plans that tie into housing justice. By reducing pressures that might otherwise displace residents and weaken housing stability, he protects the surrounding communities.
For students like Lara, receiving this scholarship means more than tuition support. “It gave me freedom to focus on coursework and community engagement,” he said. “It felt like recognition that my goals were aligned with a larger mission and reminded me that there is a community of people who believe in this work."
Scholarship recipient Taylor Harrington MUPP ’16 was similarly inspired by Anna’s story. “I carry on Anna’s passion at the core of all I do. This scholarship helped me find my own confidence in the path I’d chosen.” As a senior planner at Michael Baker International, she advances housing justice by helping government agencies plan for climate change, hazard mitigation and water resource management.
“We know that the impacts of climate change disproportionately impact marginalized communities,” Harrington said. “I work to not only maintain access to affordable and safe housing, but also include elements of housing justice in every project as a cornerstone of future planning.”
Anna once dreamed of housing justice; that dream now moves through the 14 scholars supported by the scholarship that bears her name. For the family that loved her, knowing that others have taken up the work Anna loved brings a measure of light into their loss. “It is so wonderful to hear of students who have a similar passion to our daughter,” Marsha said. “We know Anna would be so happy knowing her efforts were not halted.” With every new scholar, Anna's vision moves farther into the world, carried by those committed to the work she began.
When Anna Bachman passed away, her family faced the unimaginable. But from that grief came a vision to keep Anna’s passion for housing justice alive by creating opportunities for graduate students like her at UIC’s College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (CUPPA).
Anna's humanitarianism was evident from an early age, whether volunteering in her community or tutoring friends after school. Her undergraduate studies focused on developing nations and gravitated toward social justice. Her first professional role with Habitat for Humanity allowed her to help unhoused families secure affordable housing.
“While that hands-on work spoke to her heart,” her mother Marsha Kopral said, “Anna dreamed of a world where communities unite to ensure housing for all, regardless of income. She knew she needed to influence change on a larger scale to make that vision real.”
This realization brought Anna under the mentorship of the late Janet Smith, a CUPPA professor and housing justice activist. For more than 25 years, Smith shaped housing policy and planning through her teaching, research and community engagement, impacting Chicago and public housing initiatives nationwide. Smith’s leadership translated her students’ passions into promise, and Anna’s time under her wing set the course for a bright future.
But when Anna’s life was cut short by a tragic accident, her family — mother and stepfather Marsha and Andy Kopral, father Rick Bachman and sister Gail Bachman — refused to let her vision for the future disappear. They came together to channel her dream into a foundation for something extraordinary: the Anna Bachman Memorial Scholarship.
By Samus Haddad
